Page 108

Her eyes fill with moisture, and she wipes at the corners of them. ‘Because I thought if you knew the truth, it would destroy you too.’

I sit with her words for a moment, letting them settle. Nothing feels real to me. It’s as if she’s describing someone else’s life, someone else’s choices, but then reality starts to sink in.

‘You knew,’ I say finally. ‘That he’d do something like that. To protect me.’

‘Yes,’ she admits. ‘I did.’

Something twists inside me. It’s not anger, exactly, but something heavier and more complicated. It’s the strange, aching sense I was left out of a decision that shaped my entire life.

‘And you still didn’t come back,’ I say quietly.

Her expression falls. ‘I couldn’t come back. I wasn’t okay. I finally feel strong enough to see you again. I know it’s been a long time.’

She’s here. Sitting in front of me, real and changed, but still the person I used to know, too.

‘I spent a long time trying to make sense of it,’ she continues. ‘Of what happened. Of what I allowed myself to be part of, even indirectly. I thought if I stayed away long enough, I could get myself back to a place where I could think about it without falling apart.’

‘You’re here now,’ I say. ‘None of us can change the choices we made.’

‘Yes,’ she says softly. ‘You’re right.’

My thoughts are racing. It doesn’t feel real to be sitting beside her after all this time. She seems calmer and more at peace than I’ve ever known her to be. I suppose the monster under her bed is finally gone, and she’s free to be herself.

By the time the sun begins to dip behind the trees, there’s a sense of closure between us, but also a beginning. I blink a few times, but it doesn’t stop the sting building behind my eyes. Five years of silence, anger, and confusion suddenly feel too heavy to carry anymore.

‘I want us to be in each other’s lives again. If you’ll have me,’ she says.

‘Of course,’ I choke out, my voice wavering despite my attempt to keep it steady. ‘I’d like that.’ A shaky breath escapes me and before I can stop them, tears blur my vision. I let out a small, breathless laugh, quickly brushing beneath my eyes.

‘I’ve missed you,’ I admit quietly.

For the first time in years, I feel like the weight of old rivalries and pain has lifted, and even though part of me still aches for Ash, for the dark obsession and love that I crave, I know that this connection with my sister is real, and it’s ours to rebuild.

46

ASH

Now

The park is alive tonight. Fog curls over the pavement, crawling around people’s ankles as they move through the entrance gates. The lights glow dimly, and music pulses somewhere in the distance while screams echo from the maze. Fright Night: my kind of environment, and the perfect way to get my mind off Bryn.

I stroll down the Haunted Midway beside Jett, my coworker, holding my mask loosely in my hand for now. The smell of smoke machines and caramel popcorn hangs thick in the air.

‘Seems quiet tonight,’ Jett mutters.

I glance at him. Even without the mask, he looks like he stepped out of one of the scare zones, with dark hair falling over his eyes, his black tactical vest half unzipped, and sleeves rolled up to show the tattoos running down his forearms. People stare at us when we walk past.

‘It’s still early,’ I reply.

My circle is small. Deliberately so. I’ve never been the type to surround myself with people just for the sake of it. Most of the time I prefer my own company, but Jett slipped into my life somehow.

We met a couple of years ago at the gym. It was one of those unspoken things where you notice someone across the room and recognise your same discipline in the way they move. Same focus, same intensity. We started spotting each other on lifts and talking between sets, which somehow turned into working Fright Night together when the park needed more actors who could handle the physical side of the job. Turns out we work well together. The scares are better when there are two of us moving through the maze, coordinating without even needing to talk, and somewhere along the way we started filming masked TikToks during quiet nights like this one. We made short clips of us stalking through the fog, appearing out of the dark, and disappearing again before people can react. For some reason the internet loves us, two masked guys who look like they belong in a horror movie. The videos have set us up pretty comfortably.

He catches someone staring at us now and smirks slightly. ‘Told you,’ he says. ‘Too quiet.’

I glance toward the maze entrance as another group of guests hesitates at the gate.

‘Give it a minute,’ I reply.